


Times a ticking

by DaisyRomanov



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, theres a slight mixup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3426008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisyRomanov/pseuds/DaisyRomanov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of those timer soul mate AU's but with a twist? Eventual Skimmons and Fitzward, but its a long time coming. also highschool AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Everyone had always assumed they would end up together. Hell, they had considered the possibility themselves, on many an occasion. Ward had been by her side, ever since they had met. The night in shining armour, protecting her from a bully on her first day of third grade. He was the one she went to when she got a new foster home, and who she went to when she lost it. He had been there to tend her bruises from the drunken foster parents, and when she almost had to take the ninth grade again from skipping to many classes. He had always been there. Everyone had always assumed they were soul mates. It wasn't unheard of, meeting your mate before you were tagged. Just rare.

People joked that there would be no need for them to get timers, sophomore year, they would only go off two minutes later when they saw each other again. Skye had heard it enough times that she started to believe it. That's why, when all the sophomores at school waited in the hall to get their timers implanted to their wrists, she wasn't nervous. In fact, she was bored. She had waited for the past half hour, occasionally shooting a reassuring smile to Ward as he waited even further down the alphabetical line. Poots trumped Ward. She waited for the line to shrink, until finally, she was ushered into the nurses office.

Skye sat down, and held out her left wrist to the nurse, and winced as a cool gel was applied.

'Nervous, honey?' the nurse asked.

Skye just shrugged. 'I guess so.'

'This is going to sting a bit,' the nurse warned.

Skye nodded, and watched as the nurse places a small bar onto her wrist. Nothing happened for a moment, before needles suddenly sprung out from the sides, imbedding themselves into her skin. Skye gave a small gasp at the sting, but it was over as soon as it came. What ever that gel was, it was doing wonders at soothing the pain.

The nurse wiped away the left over gel and the small droplets of blood, and peered at the timer.

'Ooh, you're lucky, you don't have all that long to wait! I had to wait 10 years for mine to go off.'

Skye just smiled weakly, she couldn't see the timer from where her wrist was positioned, but she was sure it would say something in the matter of hours. Ward was still waiting, and she wouldn't see him till after school.

'Go along now, get to class,' the nurse said kindly.

Skye picked up her bag, and left, hearing the nurse call for another student as she went.

Finally, she was alone. She looked down at her wrist and her breath caught in her throat as she saw the time, ticking away.

**1 year, 2 months, 6 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, and 24 seconds.**

Ward wasn't her soul mate.

Well, unless she somehow didn't see him for the next 13 months, and that was unlikely.

A series of conflicting emotions raced around her head. Sadness, relief, excitement, fear. She didn't know how to feel. Skye sighed. This had complicated things, and it was enough to consume her thoughts for the rest of her school day. Her teachers all seemed to have the same idea, allowing their students to talk away the period, instead of work. Skye sat herself at the back of each class, watching her timer tick away, and subconsciously making her own timer, counting down till she could talk with Ward.

Skye had been staring so intently at her timer that when the bell rang for the end of her final class, she jumped in her seat. Skye rushed to grab her bag, and was out the room before anyone had even left her seat. She all but ran to her locker, and was out the door and in the parking lot in a flash. Skye spotted Ward, slumped against his car, and made her way over to him.

'Ward!' Skye called his name from a couple of metres away, and he looked up from his wrist as soon as she spoke.

'Skye.' He greeted, some what sombrely. She ran the last few steps and slammed into him for a hug.

'You're not my soul mate,' he mumbled into her hair.

Skye pulled away and looked into his eyes.

'Hey, its okay. We always knew it might happen.'

Ward shrugged. 'I don't know how I'm gonna tell my mom. She was so sure about us.'

Skye smiled sadly. 'She won't care. She'll be happy with who ever you get.'

Ward nodded. 'You're right. How long have you got?'

Skye grinned, 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours.'

Ward laughed, and Skye stood next to him. They both brought their left wrists up, and held them parallel.

Looking down, Skye gasped.

'What?' Skye muttered. They were exactly the same, completely in sync.

Both clearly stated **1 year, 2 months, 6 days, 17 hours, 9 minutes, and 48 seconds.**

'How is that possible?' Ward asked incredulously.

'I.. I don't understand. What are the chances? That we meet them at the same time?'

Ward let out a laugh in disbelief. 'Well, we do everything together.'

* * *

Before long, everyone knew about their timers. After everyone was so dead set on them being together, it made the news so much more ridiculous. Over the next days and weeks, they were subjected to stares and gossip. Somehow, people were more interested in Skye and Wards timers than the ones on their own wrists.

That, along with the timers of Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers. That had come to a surprise to everyone. The lead line backer for the school football team, and the girl who had transferred in from England the month before had never spoken before in their lives. They had gotten quite the surprise, as their timers had gone off when they had walked into each other the day after the timers had been embedded. Now, they were the 'It' couple of the school, and the envy of everyone. Skye just felt sorry for them.

Skye slumped down in her chair next to Ward, just as the class had began. Their teacher, Mrs Weaver, settled the class before starting, 'Alright class. Today, we're doing Sex Ed.'

A collective groan ran through the class, and Mrs Weaver gave them a knowing smile. It was about half way through class, when she said something that caught everyone's attention.

'Now, I want to talk to you about Soul Mates. I understand you all got your timers, two weeks ago, and it occurred to me that not many of you know what that means.

Soul mates have often been cited through out History, and there has been a lot speculation on how it happens. No one knows, to be honest. Its one of those unexplained mysteries. Some think it's fate, others God. In my opinion, it doesnt matter, all that matters is finding your mate. The idea of timers where founded during WW2, when Howard Stark created a device that would alert a soldier when his vitals were dangerously low. It was completely theoretic to begin with, and the first of the invention worked seemingly well. The device was placed on the users left wrist, connected to the vein which runs directly to the heart. It is also why you wear a wedding ring on your left hand, on the ring finger. No one had foreseen the affect it had when the soldier was injured, and sent to hospital, where he met a nurse, unknowingly, his soul mate. It set the device of in the most extraordinary manner. Howard Stark investigated the phenomenon, and his research lead to the discovery of the true Soul Mate.'

A hand shot up, and someone asked, 'Miss, is this the same Howard Stark, Tony Stark from the senior's Father?'

Mrs Weaver nodded, 'Yes, it is.'

Whispers ran around the room, before Mrs Weaver commanded their attention again.

'There has been some controversy to this discovery, many claiming it had glitches. Some have found that upon finding their soul mate, that it is someone of the same gender, or in some extreme cases, that it is shared among more than two people. Since homosexuality and Polyamorous relationships have since then become more recognised in society, there is now without a doubt, Soul mates are real.'

Skye shot a look at Ward, with an eyebrow raised. Their timers were the same. What if they met the same person?

Ward shrugged, realising what Skye was getting at. He tapped his timer, and Skye understood. They would find out when it reached zero.

* * *

After a while, everyone seemed to get over the initial novelty of the timers , growing accustomed to seeing the numbers on their wrists everyday.

They got about their everyday lives, only throwing it a moment of thought every now and then.

It was one of these moments, as Skye and Ward sat above the hood of Wards car, staring at the clouds. They had taken their lunch out side, and were discussing what they thought their soul mates would be like.

All of a sudden, Ward nudged Skye's side and she looked at him.

'Look.' Ward grabbed her wrist and held it up to his own, counting down with it. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

**1 year, 0 months, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.**

Skye grinned at Ward. 'One year. This is it.'

Ward smiled, and then froze. He let out a groan, and Skye sat up in worry.

'What? What's wrong?'

'We're totally going to meet them in the middle of the lunch hall, in front of everyone.' Ward banged his head against the car.

Skye winced to herself. 'There is going to be so much gossip!'

'Screw gossip! I always imagined it would be some big, amazing event. Like we see each other from across Grand Central Station and we are just drawn to each other and meet in a passionate embrace, like in the movies! Not in front of a bunch of spotty pubescent kids!' Ward groaned again and Skye laughed.

Poking him in the side, Skye teased, 'Look at you! Who knew you were such a romantic sap.'

Ward poked her back, before protesting, 'Well excuse me for trying to make it perfect! We're going to remember this for the rest of our lives! We'll tell our kids about this moment!'

Skye laughed, ' Okay, I know. But it wont matter how you meet. They're your soul mate, just being there will make it perfect. You know, seeing each other for the first time, and it clicking in your mind when the timer goes off. This person, they're mine, meant for me.' Skye smiled to herself.

'Huh, look whose the romantic sap now?'

'Shut up, you ass.'

It became tradition after that. Every time their timers came to a solid number, each month from then on, they would meet, and count down together. They would do it over the phone, when meeting wasn't possible, but they always counted down together. Like a little celebration that they were one step closer to zero, one step closer to meeting their soul mates.

* * *

Ward woke to his phone ringing. Reaching for the phone, he saw Skye's photo pop up on the screen. Quickly hitting answer, he held the phone to his ear.

'Skye?' he answered groggily, 'What time is it?'

He didn't get an answer as he heard sobs down the phone. Shooting straight upright, he almost shouted, 'Skye! What's wrong?'

He heard a whimper before Skye managed to choke out, 'Can- Can you come get me? I'm on the corner of Finchley Avenue.'

Ward was up and out of his bed in a flash, 'Of course, what's wrong?' He didn't get an answer as he heard more sobs down the phone. Chucking on a hoodie over his bare chest, and slipping on a pair of tennis shoes, he ran down stairs.

'Skye,' ward cried out in worry. 'Did he hurt you? I swear, if he hurt you, I'll kill him!' Ward growled. Skye's sobbing only increased, as Ward grabbed his keys and ran out the house to his car.

'I'm on my way, Skye, stay on the line.' Ward floored the gas, breaking who knows how many speed limits, in his rush to get to Skye.

He kept murmuring words of comfort as he drove, cutting down the 10 minute drive into 4. When he finally reached the corner of Finchley's, he saw a figure slumped on the ground by the lamp light.

He squealed to a stop, and threw his phone onto the seat next to him, ignoring it as it bounced onto the floor. Leaving the car running, he flung himself out the car and ran to her.

'Skye! Skye, honey, I'm here!'

Ward crouched down next to her and placed his hand gently under her head.

'Oh Skye, what did he do to you?' he murmured, trying to control his anger.

Skye turned her head towards him, and to his horror, he saw a long gash on the side of her face.

He took a sharp intake of breath. 'Skye. I.. I don't...'

'It's stopped.' Skye murmured.

'What? Skye, what stopped?' Ward asked in concern.

Skye let out another sob, and moved her hand away from her left wrist. Ward felt his eyes sting and his heart stop when he saw her timer.

'It's stopped ticking.' Skye cried again, 'I don't know what to do, Ward.'

'Shit.'

Skye's timer had indeed stopped ticking, in fact, it was almost torn away from her wrist completely, with the needles all bent out of shape. Blood seemed to flow freely from the wound, and was soaking onto Skye's clothes. Ward quickly ripped off a strip from the bottom of her top, and tied it around her wrist, applying a little pressure. Ward winced at the slight gasp of pain from Skye.

'God, Skye, I've got to get you to a hospital. We need to go, now!' Ward felt the panic rise in his voice, but he ignored it, as he scooped Skye into his arms, and practically ran to his car.

He hastily opened the passenger door, and placed Skye gently on the seat. He quickly strapped her in, and retrieved his phone from the floor, before closing the door, and running to the drivers side.

Quickly strapping in, he hit the gas, driving at breakneck speeds. On his way to the nearest hospital, he hit speed dial 2, and let in ring on loudspeaker, in his lap.

'Ward?' his mother, Carrie's voice rang out. 'What's wrong, why are you not in bed?'

'Mom,' his voice cracked, 'You need to get to the hospital, call Skye's social worker on the way.' Wards urgency was punctuated by a cry from Skye as they drove over a bump in the road.

'Ward, I'm on my way, what happened?' his mother responded immediately.

'I cant talk mom, I've got to call the cops.' Ward quickly dialled 9-1-1, and waited for him to get patched through.

When the voice answered, asking for the emergency, Ward quickly spoke, 'My friend got attacked by her Foster Dad. Its happened before, but never this bad. I'm on my way with her to the hospital now.'

'Sir, how is she hurt?' The operator asked.

'She's got a cut to her head, and I think a cracked rib, but... he tried to rip out her timer. She's bleeding heavily. I'm about 2 minutes out from St Marys hospital.

'Sir, can you give me the address of the Foster Father.'

With pleasure, Ward thought before quickly rattling off the address.

'Thank you, we will call you back on this number when we have news, and we can arrange for an officer to talk to you when your friend is recovering.'

Ward let out a thank you, as he turned up the drive to the hospital. Quickly parking across two spots, parking ticket be damned, he rushed out to Skye's side, and undid her seatbelt. Easing her into her arms, he all but ran into the hospital, much to the alarm of the receptionist.

At seeing Skye, she quickly called down a doctor, and Ward was taken to an emergency room, where he gently placed her in the bed.

'Her wrist.. Please help her,' Ward managed to choke out, before he was ushered out the room.

Ward waited frantically in the waiting area, after giving in Skye's details to the receptionist. After ten minutes, he was joined by Carrie, who demanded to know what happened.

Ward quickly told her, before he started pacing, looking up every time someone came through the doors, and huffing a sigh of frustration every time it wasn't the doctor. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came through the doors.

Ward immediately shot towards him, followed by his Carrie. The doctor answered the unasked question, that seemed to hang in the air.

'She's in recovery. She received an artificial head wound, a concussion, bruised ribs, and tearing of the muscle tissue around her timer. I've managed to recover what I can, but she may have a loss of feeling around the area, and a little scaring. I've put the timer back in place, and should be fully functional. It did not receive any damage during its attempted... removal.. aside from a few scratches on the surface, so once it was aligned back with the core vein, it rebooted. She's lost a lot of blood, so she should feel tired for the day or so but due to the concussion, we must wake her every hour. You can go in and see her.'

Ward lunged in and pulled the doctor in for a hug, muttering his thanks before he let go. Letting out an awkward cough, Ward quickly left, followed by his mother, to see Skye.

She was sleeping when they entered the room, and Ward quickly seated himself on her right side, so he could grasp her uninjured hand. Carrie sat on the other side, and she stroked the hair out of Skye's face.

'This shouldn't have happened,' Ward muttered angrily. 'I called the cops, and they should be taking the dirt bag into custody. What I wouldn't give to spit at John Garrett in a cell.'

Carrie made a noise in agreement.

'Grant, I was thinking.'

Ward looked up, his mother only ever called him Grant to tell him off, or to give him serious news.

'We've always said Skye was family. And I never want to see her hurt again.' Ward's heart raced in hope at what he thought his mother was implying.

'We all know this has been happening long before John Garrett was even in the picture, and it has to end. What I'm trying to say is, I love Skye like a daughter, so... why don't I adopt her?'

Wards eyes widened, and for the first time in hours, he grinned. 'Mom!' he exclaimed in an excited whisper. 'I.. I don't know what to say! Of course we should!'

Carrie beamed, before saying, 'Don't say anything to Skye yet. I need to speak to her social worker first, to see if its even possible. Then we can talk to her about if she wants to stay.'

Ward let out an excited giggle, much to his own surprise, and gave Skye's hand a soft squeeze. Ward and his mother sat there, quietly discussing how they would broach the subject to Skye, until half an hour later, a nurse stopped by, saying Skye had to be woken up.

Ward gently shook Skye by the shoulder, calling her name, and she pulled herself awake. After a moment, she seemed to remember what happened, and the heart rate monitor next to her bed began to speed up.

Skye opened her eyes widely, and they darted around the room, before settling on Ward.

'Skye, everything's fine, your safe. You're in the hospital.'

Skye struggled to get up, but Ward gently held her down.

'Easy tiger, don't wanna hurt yourself there, do ya.'

Skye frowned, before looking at her wrist.

'My timer. It broke.' Skye's eyes began to water, as she looked at her bandaged wrist.

'Skye, honey, it's okay. It's fixed,' Carrie reassured softly.

Skye looked uncertain, but nodded at the sincerity in their eyes. Sagging in relief, she drifted back to sleep.

The next time she woke, Skye had her bandages changed and Skye demanded to see her wrist. The doctored gently showed her the timer, and she winced at the sight of the cuts around it. She then looked at the countdown, conferring with Wards, to see that it was indeed working. It was perfect.

**0 years, 6 months, 3 days, 4 hours, 13 minutes and 52 seconds.**

* * *

A week later, Skye let out a squeal as she looked at the unsigned document in front of her.

'Carrie,' she gasped, 'Are you really asking me this?'

'Of course she is!' Ward nearly exploded from the couch next to her.

'Skye, will you be my daughter?' Carrie asked, with a smile.

'Yes! God, yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!' Skye exclaimed.

Skye pulled Carrie into a big, although gentle, hug, and sighed happily.

'Where do I sign?' Skye asked, pulling away excitedly.

'Right here.'

Skye quickly wrote her signature, even writing 'Mary Sue Poots' was not denting her bubbly mood.

Once it was all done, Carrie sealed it in an envelope, saying she was going to drop it of at the Social Workers office, and promised Pizza on her return.

Once she was gone, Skye sat on the sofa next to Ward happily, and grinned at him.

'So, you're officially Skye Ward now.'

Skye's grin only grew wider.


	2. Bloody Hell!

Time seemed to fly from then on. Skye had settled into her routine of living with the Wards, and soon found herself looking down to her timer one morning, and being shocked by the count.

**0 years, 2 months, 6 days, 6 hours, 39 minutes and 17 seconds.**

She was almost at the two month mark! In fact, it had been exactly a year to the day, that she got her timer. One year since she learnt someone was out there for her, a soul mate. One year since she had learnt that someone wasn't Ward. Skye couldn't believe how much had changed since then. Ward was literally her brother now. She had a real family, that loved her. Her time with the device on her wrist had ended up being the happiest of her life. The irony of this wasn't lost on Skye. Her timer literally counted down to what would supposedly be the most monumental event of her life, one she would cherish forever. Despite this, Skye couldn't help but be afraid. Everything would change, and that was something Skye wasn't ready for. Yes, she would have her soul mate, and Ward his, but that wasn't all that would happen.

What if Ward's soul mate didn't like her? Or if hers didn't like him? What could happen to their friendship? Skye had suffered change all through her life, moving around the country, loosing foster parents and friends. She had only just accepted that life with the Ward family was 'It' for her, and she certainly wasn't ready to loose that now.

Skye brushed away the sad thoughts and got up from her bed, having wasted half her early morning with her musings. After a quick shower, she got changed for the day, and went downstairs. Ward was already in the kitchen making a grossly healthy breakfast, that contained at least 5 different fruits. Having no such qualms with her health, Skye grabbed a bowl of the most sugary cereal they had, and tucked in. Skye laughed when she saw Ward wince at her breakfast, and shoved a large spoonful in her mouth, just to spite him.

As she chewed, Ward asked quietly, 'Did you see what day it was on our timers?'

Skye nodded slowly, and gulped down the last of what was in her mouth. 'Yeah, its been a crazy year.'

Ward agreed, and spoke again softly. 'Its not long now. Just over 2 months. I... I'm glad we get to go through this together.'

Skye grinned and deflected the feelings in her usual manner. 'Aww, Tin man has got a heart! Careful, Robot, you might start rusting from all the tears!' Ward gave a faux laugh, brimming with sarcasm.

Skye smiled, then continued, 'In all seriousness, I'm glad you're going through this too. I don't have a clue why we have the same timers, and what will happen after, but I'm glad we get to go through it together.'

Ward smiled and hugged her side. 'Love ya, Lil Sis.'

Skye laughed and cleared her throat. 'Alright, enough with the sappy shit. We gotta go to school.'

Ward put his hand to his chest in mock shock. 'Skye Ward! (Because yes, she took the surname.) Willing to do to school! On time?!'

Skye playfully shoved Ward, a grin on her face. 'Shut up, lets go.'

* * *

6 days later, Ward and Skye celebrated their 2 month count down. It was a Saturday and Ward hadnt been able to drop his shift at work, so during his lunch break, he called Skye.

'Hey, little sis.'

'Grant Douglas Ward, you are cutting it fine.' Skye berated.

'Shut up Skye.' Ward looked at his wrist.

**0 years, 2 months, 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes and 56 seconds.**

'We've still got 2 minutes. I just got on lunch break and we haven't missed a single month, I'll be damned if we start now.'

Skye chuckled down the phone. 'I cant believe it's only two months left. That's crazy.'

Ward hummed in agreement, before looking down at his wrist.

'One minute.'

They both watched in silence as the numbers counted down on either end of the phones.

'Thirty seconds,' Skye whispered, almost to herself.

'You okay?' Ward asked, concern filling his voice.

'Yeah, just scared. What if he doesn't like me?'

Ward scoffed. 'Skye, he's your soul mate, he will love you.'

'I always screw these things up, I wont deserve him.'

'Skylar Avery Ward. You listen to me.' Ward sounded angry, but Skye knew he was angry at the people who made her believe those things, not her. Never her.

'Somewhere in the world, your soul mate is looking down at their wrists, counting down with us. They are waiting for you. Count with me. Ten.'

'Nine,' Skye joined in, her voice barely a whisper.

'Eight.' They said together.

'Seven, Six, Five.' Almost there.

'Four.'

'Three.'

'Two.'

'One.'

**0 years, 2 months, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds.**

* * *

Skye fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist, at the back of the class. It was a braided thing that Ward and her both got from a stall at some festival. It had been right after they had officially become family, and Skye had made some joke about Ward going soft at the time. They both knew Skye was touched by the gesture, even if she wouldn't say it out loud.

Skye let the bracelet lie still and looked at her wrist, reminding her of why she had started wearing it on her left wrist in the first place. Her timer ticked down, almost at the one month mark, just 2 weeks away, but that was not what held her attention. Skye looked at the skin around her timer, ridges littering the flesh, riddled with ugly scars. All it served was to bring back memories best long forgotten. Skye couldn't help but flinch at the sight of it, as harsh words rang through her mind.

_'You are worthless! You don't deserve someone, least of all a soul mate! No one will ever love you. You're gonna die alone!'_

_Skye screamed as a sharp blade met her wrist, tears blurring her vision as Garret attempted to pry her timer from her._

_'Your timers never going to go off.'_

Skye shuddered at the memory, immediately moving the bracelet back over her timer. Forcing herself to listen to what her teacher was saying, Skye tried to ignore the nagging thoughts at the back of her mind telling her that if she listened closely, she could still hear her screams.

It was all too much. Suddenly thrusting her hand in the air, she drew her teachers attention from the board.

'Miss MacKenzie, I'm feelings a little faint, can I see the nurse?' Skye heard a slight tremor in her voice from her panic, but it seemed to only make her lie more convincing.

Granted permission, Skye swept her things into her bag and left the room. Instead of heading towards the nurses office, however, she went in the opposite direction, towards the gym locker room. Once there, she found the fire exit, that she knew wouldn't set off any alarms, as the football team had set it off too many times 'on accident.' Pushing it open, she quickly left, making it to the other end of the football field. She kept on walking, till she was off school grounds and then till she was on the edge of town altogether.

She could still hear the voice ringing in her ears. She knew if she didn't calm down, she would have a panic attack. She knew this, logically, but she wasn't acting logically. Taking off into a sprint, she ran into the woods that surrounded their town. The path was overgrown, having been all but forgotten since she had been there last. Skye barely paid attention to where her feet were taking her, all she could comprehend was that she had to get away. Away from people and timers and Ward.

Skye's heart clenched at the thought of Ward. Ward, who cared so much and loved her against all the odds. It was all too much. She just needed to get away, where she could think without worrying about concerning Ward or hurting him. She needed to get away so she could finally break down.

Eventually, the path opened up into a clearing and a little cabin. The grass was overgrown, and the cabin was covered in green moss. It was abandoned, the owners long gone. Skye was pretty sure no one but her even knew of its existence, or how to find it and she hadn't been there for months.

The cabin was filled with memories, happy and sad. She had found it years ago, when she had run away from a particularly abusive foster home. She stayed there for a week before the need for real food became too great. It had been her place of refuge ever since. She had run here after she couldn't stay at a home any more, when the orphanage and the nuns became too much, even when her first boyfriend broke up with her because she was too 'unpopular.' She was often questioned where she ran off to for days on end but she never told. It was her place.

Skye remembered the last time she had been here. It had been days before the Garrett incident. Skye had realised that he had steadily been getting worse, getting angrier, drinking more; Skye had to get out of there before something bad happened.

She spent her nights at the cabin, or sometimes staying at Wards, and would shower in the school changing rooms. She never told Ward where she was. Finally, after a week, Skye returned 'home'. She needed clothes and some other supplies, she thought she could slip in and be out in an hour. Except Garrett had been waiting for her.

Skye flinched at the thought, taking long, shuddering breaths, but the panic still consumed her. Skye dropped to the ground, hands fisting into the over grown grass and her body curling into a ball. Her body racked with sobs, as she replayed that night in her head.

The stench of alcohol, the angry shouts, her screams. She saw red, a mix between the blood on her wrists and the anger and hatred she felt for herself. Skye let out a whimper, as she felt the punches to her stomach all over again, her head being slammed into a wall. She relived that night in her head, unable to break free from the delusion.

Eventually, she remembered what came after. Pushing Garrett away, hitting his head. Him going out like a light. She remembered the cold as she ran out into the night, the hard pavement beneath her. Then she remembered Ward. His worry down the phone, his love causing his voice to tremble. His warm arms carrying her to safety.

' _No one will ever love you!_ ' The words sounded feebly in the back of her mind, as if in protest to where her thoughts were headed.

'No!' Skye mumbled, to herself.

'Ward loves me. Carrie loves me. I have a family now, and soon I will have a mate!' By the end, Skye was practically screaming into the wind.

'I am not alone! I wont let you make me hate myself! I wont let you win!' Skye slowly stood up and looked around the clearing. Silence engulfed the woods after her screaming match with the voice in her mind.

'I am loved,' Skye whispered, letting out a hysterical giggle as if she had just come to this unimaginable conclusion.

Skye grinned to herself, and sank back to the ground, this time on her back as she watched the clouds, finally peaceful. She was exhausted, her previous outburst being emotionally taxing, and soon found herself drifting peacefully to sleep.

* * *

Skye woke to the faint sound of buzzing. With a groan, she sat up and took in her surroundings. She was outside the cabin, and the sun was beginning to set behind the trees. The source of the buzzing, Skye realised, was from her phone, which she had thrown to the side as she slept.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Skye reached from her phone. Without looking at the caller ID, Skye answered groggily.

'Hello?'

'Skye! Thank god, I've been calling you all day. Where are you?' Ward's worried voice greeted her.

'Ward. Hey. What's up?'

'Whats up?! Skye you haven't been to any of your classes! Someone said something about you being ill but you never went to the nurses office. I checked at home at lunch and you weren't there! I thought you'd been kidnapped or something!'

'Okay, okay! Calm down, Ward. I'm okay, I fell asleep but I'm fine. I just needed to get away for a bit.'

'Skye, where are you?' Ward asked, exasperated.

'I'm in town, I'll be back in half an hour, okay. See you soon.'

Skye hung up the phone before Ward had a chance to answer, and stood. Shaking the grass from her back, Skye looked for her bag. She tried not to feel guilty about not telling Ward the truth about where she was. Technically, she was still within the towns boarders, but she knew it wasn't the same. She just didn't want to share her private place with anyone. Spotting her bag at the base of the closest tree, Skye grabbed it and checked the time before heading into the woods, back to the main road.

* * *

Skye munched on her (ridiculously over-sugared) cereal as she watched Ward prepare some health shake.

'I still don't understand how you can drink that stuff. It tastes like the devils ass!'

Ward scoffed. 'Oh and you know what the devils ass tastes like, how?'

Skye laughed. 'You know what I mean, you can only be so healthy.'

'Well excuse me for caring about the state of my body, unlike you who will eat anything!'

Skye grinned through a mouthful of cereal. 'What can I say? I'm a growing girl.'

Ward laughed and took a sip of his drink, as his mother rushed into the kitchen.

'Hey kids. Sorry, I'm in a rush.'

Ward rolled his eyes. 'We know Mom, you've got that big presentation today.'

Carrie nodded, and went to the coffee machine, only to see a Thermos waiting for her and a muffin to go.

Carrie smiled. 'Thanks Grant, your a life saver. I really need to head out.'

Turning to face Skye as well as Ward, she continued.

'You kids will be okay for the day, right? I'll be out till late.'

Skye nodded. 'Yeah, Carrie, it's all fine. Your keys are by the door, with your glasses.'

'Oh, thank you, Skye. Honestly, I'd be a mess without you two keeping me in order.'

Skye grinned, and Ward let out a laugh.

'Mom, go! We'll be fine.'

'Right, well. Have fun at school.' Carrie paused to kiss Ward and Skye on the top if their heads before heading out the door, a 'Bye! Love you!' left hanging through the air in her wake.

'Why do I feel like a tornado just blew through here?' Skye mused, and Ward laughed.

'Come on, we should be heading to school now, too,' Skye said, half heartedly.

Ward smiled knowingly, much to Skye's confusion.

'What?'

'Well, we might not be going to school today... I called us both in sick.'

'What! Ward the robot? Breaking the rules?!' Skye teased happily. 'Something must have got into your coding!'

'Ha ha,' Ward sarcastically laughed.

'I just figured that we should have a proper celebration, you know what day it is. Somehow, I don't think calculus really fits into those plans.'

Skye smiled. 'Okay, so what are we doing instead?'

'I thought we could go for a ride on dad's bike.'

Skye widened her eyes. 'Wait, you finally finished fixing up you Dads bike? It runs?' Skye let out an excited laugh.

'This is going to be awesome!'

Ward grinned. 'Come on, let's go.'

'Okay, one sec, I need something from my room.'

Skye ran up the stairs and disappeared around the corner, as Ward picked up their dishes and rinsed them in the sink.

He was just making his way to the front door when Skye came bounding excitedly downstairs.

Ward looked at her and raised a brow. 'Really? You had to get a leather jacket?'

Skye grinned. 'What? It's my first time on a motor bike, I'm going to look like a badass doing it!'

Ward grinned. 'Sure thing kiddo, let's go.'

* * *

Ward felt Skye's arms tighten around his waist as they sped down the empty back roads of their small town. He could feel more than hear Skye's laugh rumble from behind, causing a grin to spread across his face.

'This is amazing!' Skye screamed over the noise of the engine, before she loosened one of her arms and threw it in the air. Ward tensed at Skye's suddenly weakened grip and slowed slightly.

Behind him, Skye let out a joyous cry, before wrapping her arm around his midsection again. Suddenly getting an idea, Ward slowed to a halt at the next shoulder in the road and nudged Skye off the bike.

'What's up?' Skye asked, and Ward smiled.

'You wanna learn how to drive this thing?'

Skye looked at Ward and then to the street bike he sat astride. It was a black Yamaha YZF-R6, someone had painted red flames across the sides. In all, it looked fucking kickass.

'Are you kidding me?! Hell yes!' Skye exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

Ward chuckled. 'I figure we spend a couple of weeks getting you into it, and then we can see about getting you a licence. You're pretty much down on the theory, so it's just the practical exam you need to pass.'

Skye nodded happily and then pulled Ward of the bike.

Taking his place, she sat down, placed her hands on the handle bars testing-ly and looked up at Ward.

'Okay, how does this work?'

After an hour and a half of explanations and safety rules, Ward finally able to admit Skye was ready.

'Okay, one last time. Clutch.'

Ward gave a nod as Skye patted her left handle bar.

'Throttle.' Skye sighed.

'Ward, stop hen picking. I have this down. Look! Clutch, throttle, break, back break, gear shift.' Skye patted each of the respective parts as she said them. Ward rolled his eyes at Skye's theatrics, but nodded approvingly as she got it all right.

'Okay, okay, you're ready. You know what to do.'

Skye nodded, then made sure her helmet was on tight before Ward backed away to give her room. With a look of intense concentration, Skye began the motions of starting the bike, muttering each step as she did.

'Okay. Clutch. Don't let go.' Skye squeezed the clutch tightly, before moving onto the next step.

'Kick start.' Skye slammed her foot down on the pedal, and after a few tries the the bike thrummed to life.

'Throttle.' Skye tested out the throttle carefully, only the tiniest of movements causing the motorbike to roar like a monster. Skye felt the surge of adrenaline kick in then. This was real, this is happening, Skye thought.

'First gear.' Skye brought down the gear shift a notch, and then took a deep breath. 'Clutch.'

Skye eased her grip up from the clutch and suddenly she was whizzing through the air again.

Skye felt the wind rush against her, and let out an excited squeal. This was far better than sitting behind Ward, she was in control, the snarling beast beneath her bending to her will as she commanded it. It was a thrill.

As Skye got closer towards the end of the road, she slowed, pressing on the break. When she stopped, she returned her tight grip on the clutch, and circled the bike around.

Repeating the motions again, quicker this time, Skye started back down the road again, towards Ward. The cold air returned and as much as Ward had laughed, she was grateful for her leather jacket.

Once Skye reached where Ward was waiting on the side of the road, she slowed to a stop. Shutting the bike, Skye hopped off and kicked down the side stand.

Running over to him, she jumped into a hug.

'Oh my god! That was amazing! How was I?!' Skye gushed excitedly.

Ward chuckled. 'You looked badass.'

Ward happily watched as his words brought a humoured smirk to Skye's face.

'Damn straight.' Skye dead panned before running back to the bike.

* * *

After spending the next hour taking turns, Skye improving quickly, they decided to take a break, so Ward drove the two down the road towards the nature park nearby. Parking the bike, Ward lifted up the seat, and pulled out a bag, shrugging it on.

Taking the helmets with them, they wandered the woodland till they came across a small clearing. Stopping, Ward dropped his helmet and pulled the bag off his back. Opening it, he quickly pulled out a picnic blanket and settled down, soon joined by Skye.

Pulling out his phone, Ward checked the time.

'I guess it's time for lunch.'

Skye brightened at that and watched Ward pull out a few Tupperware boxes from the bag and some cutlery.

'Mmmmm, pasta.' Skye moaned, ripping the lid of and digging in. Ward chuckled and followed suit. They ate in mostly silence, one or the other occasionally making a comment as they relaxed in the sun.

After about half an hour, Skye rolled up her sleeves and caught a look at her wrist. 'Hey, we got 2 minutes!' Skye exclaimed.

Ward looked surprised, before glancing down at his wrist.

'Woah, we almost missed it!'

Skye laughed, 'Oh my god, imagine if we did, the one time we miss it!'

Ward laughed. 'That would be too ridiculous.'

As they watched their timers tick down, Skye laced her hand in Ward's, giving it a squeeze.

As it neared close to 30 seconds, Skye let out a breath. 'This is it. I can't believe we are almost there.'

Ward hummed in agreement, before the countdown hit 10 seconds.

'Ten.

Nine.

Eight.' Ward and Skye counted together, a tradition they upheld till the very last count.

'Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.'

0 years, 1 months, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.

Skye let out a shaky laugh. 'This is insane. One month. 31 days and we are meeting them.'

Ward grinned, before reaching into his bag for a moment, before pulling out two plastic cups and a bottle of champaign.

'I figured we had cause to celebrate,' Ward joked, before popping the cork off. Pouring them each a cup, they toasted each other.

'To our future Soul mates.'

'Our soul mates.'

* * *

The next few weeks crawled by at a snails pace, time seemingly taunting them. Skye spent her days at school then back on the roads. Three weeks in, she finally had her license exam. She was nervous, but she knew she had it down.

It had been odd, not having to worry about being caught driving, as the instructor tailed her as she drove, but it was a welcome change and by the end of the ride, she was sure she had passed.

Two days later, she had gotten the call to come pick up her new licence, much to her excitement. Once she got back home, she immediately went on a ride, no longer hiding on the back roads.

The days seemed to go even slower after that. Now that she couldn't distract herself with preparing for her license exam, she had nothing to keep herself from dwelling over the date looming over her.

'Ughh! I can't take this any more!' Skye exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Ward looked up from the TV with a confused look.

'What, wheel of fortune? I can change the channel if you want?'

'Ugh no!... Actually, yeah, this is boring. But that's not what I'm talking about.'

Ward paused the TV and turned to face her on the couch.

'Okay, what up?'

'I can't take the waiting! I'm going crazy!' Skye exclaimed, before shoving her wrist in his face.

**0 years, 0 months, 3 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes, 27 seconds.**

'Skye, it's 4 days. You need to be patient.'

Skye groaned. 'But Ward,' she wined. 'I'm so excited and nervous and happy and scared all at the same time! I can't deal.'

Ward sighed. 'How bout you go to where ever you always disappear off too and clear your head for a few days. I know how you need to be alone sometimes.'

Skye frowned slightly, before smiling. 'Actually, that's a really great idea.'

Ward nodded. 'As long as you're safe, and you call every day.'

Skye laughed. 'God, Ward, it's not like I'm trekking off into the great wilderness. You'll still see me every day at school.'

'I know,' Ward said, sheepishly, 'I just worry about you, especially during the nights.'

Skye grinned, 'Awww, love you too. I'll come back in three days, and I'm taking the bike.'

Ward grinned. 'Sure thing, kiddo. I swear, if you could, you would stop walking altogether and just role everywhere on the bike.'

Skye laughed, and got up.

'I'm gonna go grab my gear.'

Heading upstairs, she went to her room, having a quick shower fist. Once she was dry and dressed, Skye grabbed a bag and stuffed a few pairs of clothing in, and searched around for some other necessities. The cabin was already stocked with canned food, blankets, toiletries and some other things, so she got her school things, her shower stuff, and her laptop.

Heading back downstairs, she went to the kitchen and rooted in the fridge and cupboards for some fresh food and drink. Happy with her lot, she went back to the living room to find Ward almost asleep on the couch. Skye dropped a kiss on Ward's head.

'I'm gonna head out, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Carrie I love her when she gets back from work.'

Ward nodded sleepily and Skye left, grabbing her keys and her leather biker jacket on her way out.

Going to the garage, she put her laptop in the compartment under the seat of the motorcycle, and a large, folded sheet of tarpaulin. Shutting the seat back down, she lead the bike down to the road and got on.

Kick starting it, she was soon speeding away to the edge of town. Reaching the turnoff where she knew the overgrown path was hidden, she slowed, and hopped of the bike. She lead the bike into the woods, awkwardly manoeuvring it over roots and bumps, till she was at least 30 foot into the woods. Stopping, she grabbed her laptop from the seat, and threw the tarpaulin over the bike. That way, it was protected from the weather and wouldn't be stolen like it would on the side of the road.

Happy that everything was secure, Skye went back to the path and made the journey to the cabin. It was just as she left it, which seemed to fill Skye with an intense satisfaction. This was her place.

She made her way to the front door, and banged on the door. No one was home, but you had to be careful with some animals. When no noise came from inside, Skye slipped the door open and went in. Immediately she was hit with a thick wooded musk smell, that instantly calmed her.

With a smile, Skye looked around.

The inside was pretty cosy, with a small kitchen leading out to a living area with a worn couch, coffee table and a, soon to be, roaring fireplace. There was a bedroom in the next room, with a bathroom connected. The bathroom was pretty unusable, and the stove in the kitchen was shot, but Skye worked around it. Going to the kitchen, she opened her bag. First she pulled out a 2 litre bottle of water, and placed it on the counter, next to 4 eight-litre bottles. She mostly used them for emergencies, and it was nice to have a fresh bottle.

Next she pulled out a couple of bags of crisps, a pack of sausages, and the makings of s'mores. Happy with what food she had, she left it on the counter next to the canned food before going to the living room.

Before long, the fire was burning and the sausages were cooking on a little camping stove in the kitchen, whilst Skye sat on the couch, typing code for her Computer Science homework on her laptop.

It was getting pretty dark, and so, Skye had lit several camping lanterns around the cabin, so she was awash with a warm glow. Once enough time had passed, she ate her sausages and continued working.

At half 11, Skye felt her phone vibrate. Picking it up, she saw a message from Ward. With a smile, she opened her phone to read it.

**Grant :P : _Hey, just checking in on you. I'm about to head to sleep._**

**Lil Sis : _Mmmm sleep sounds good right now. I'm okay, I've eaten, I have a roof over my head and I'm toasty warm. Night x_**

Skye put her phone in her pocket, knowing Ward wouldn't bother with a reply, he really wasn't one for needless small talk.

Shutting her laptop, she got up. Pausing to turn of each of the lanterns, Skye made sure the door was locked before heading to the bedroom.

Throwing on a hoodie and a pair of boxer shorts, Skye crawled into the bed in the centre of the room. Sinking into it's warmth, it really wasn't a surprise when she was sound asleep.

* * *

The next day, Skye arrived to school on the motorcycle, much to everyone's awe. She and Ward hadn't driven it to school yet, seeing as they had a perfectly good car that was a lot more spacious.

A few people stood and stared at the bike, as Skye hopped off and looked around for Ward. Skye was about to walk toward him, when she saw in the corner of her eye some guy reaching out to touch her bike. Turning, she grabbed the wrist belonging to the boy, just before he could touch it.

'Hey. Don't touch the bike.' Skye put on her best, 'don't fuck with me,' tone and was pleased to see the boy shrink back in respect. With a pleased nod, Skye turned to Ward, who was leaning on his car watching the scene, and made her way over to him.

'Quite the entrance,' Ward teased as she came into ear shot.

Skye smirked. 'I am such a badass,' she dead panned, only half joking.

Ward laughed, and pulled Skye into a hug.

'Its good to see you,' he muttered into her ear, and Skye rolled her eyes.

'Dude, I was gone for a couple of hours!'

Ward laughed. 'I know, doesn't mean I'm not gunna worry.'

Skye chuckled before replying teasingly, 'Yeah, I know. Let's get to class, Mom.'

Over the next two days, Skye followed the same routine; wake up, go to school, hang out with Ward, go to cabin, do homework, fix up the cabin into a more homely environment, eat, sleep, wake up and do it all again.

On the third day, when Skye returned to the cabin and set about packing up her things to go home. Most of it could stay, so she only had to bring home what she had brought in the first place, sans the food, and head out. Before she locked up, she swept a glance around the cabin one last time, patting it on the door frame, before swiftly departing. She felt like she was leaving her home, but she knew she was returning to her other one.

Once she got home, she settled into the living room with with Ward. Neither said anything as they barely paid attention to what was on the screen. Every now and then, Skye would look down at at her timer.

**0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 16 hours, 29 minutes, 43 seconds.**

Every time she saw it, her breath hitched. The tension in the room was almost tangible, but still neither said anything. After about an hour, Ward suddenly sat up.

'Okay, I'm going to sleep. Big day tomorrow.' Wards voice had a slight tremor, betraying his nerves, but Skye didn't mention it, instead she nodded and let Ward go. Skye stayed downstairs for another 10 minutes, before deciding to follow Ward. The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner the morning would come...

At least in theory. Sleep, however, eluded her, Skye's mind too filled with racing thoughts to even consider falling asleep. She lied in bed, thinking about who she would meet the next day, imagining what they would be like. She thought for hours and somewhere in that time, the thoughts turned to dreams as she finally drifted to a restless sleep.

* * *

Skye rummaged in her closet, trying to find her favourite shirt, but it wasn't there.

'Ward! Where's my red flannel shirt!' Skye called through the house, her voice brimming with panic.

After a moment, she heard his reply. 'I think I saw it in the laundry.'

Skye groaned and ran to the laundry room.

'Please be clean. Please be clean.' Skye chanted to herself as she ran, before seeing it folded in the ironed pile. Skye let out a breath in relief.

'Oh thank god!'

Skye grabbed it and went back to her room. Shrugging it on, she hastily did up the buttons, before heading to her bathroom. Seeing her reflection, she straightened out the shirt, before she looked at her face. Quickly wiping it from any leftover traces of make up, Skye started over. She plucked any stray hairs from her eyebrows and then filled them in with a pencil. Once she was done, she arched her brow. Perfect. Grabbing her liquid eye liner, she expertly drew on wings to each eye. Grateful that her nerves hadn't caused her hands shake, she then went onto her mascara. Finally, she applied some lip gloss. She looked over her work, and was pleased. It was modest, but still noticeable. She looked like herself. She wanted to look nice, but not completely overdone. Her soul mate should see her as her.

When she was ready, she grabbed her leather jacket and bag, before heading down stairs, where Ward and Carrie was waiting. She was immediately swept into a warm hug.

'Hey, Carrie.' Skye smiled.

'You look beautiful. He'll love you.'

Carrie let her go and Skye blushed, 'Thanks.'

Carrie then turned to Ward. 'Don't think I'm forgetting you either, Grant Ward. She's a lucky gal, whoever she is.'

Ward grinned and teased, 'What, don't I look beautiful too?' Carrie let out a laugh.

'Of course you do, I just didn't want to inflate your ego.' Ward rolled his eyes good naturedly and Carrie swept him into a hug.

'I really need to go, but I have the evening off. Tell me everything when you get home.'

Skye and Ward agreed, and Carrie left. Ward looked at Skye with a grin.

'You ready for this, Lil Sis?'

'No way. Let's go,' Skye answered with grim determination. Ward rolled his eyes at Skye's dramatics and ruffled her hair. He ignored the cry of indignation as he walked past her, keys in hand and walked out the front door, Skye quickly following with a grumble.

They both got into the car and Ward pressed the keys into the ignition. As he twisted them, a sputter rose from the engine.

'Oh no, that doesn't sound good.' Skye frowned. Ward tried again and the sputtering intensified.

'Wait here.' Ward excited the car and lifted the hood of the car. Smoke rose, causing Ward to cough and attempt to clear the air. Frowning, he peered into the car and groaned. Skye watched as he groaned and she quickly joined Ward outside.

'What's wrong?'

'The engines shot. I can't see the damage yet, and we won't be able to get a mechanic till tomorrow at the latest.'

'Bike?' Skye asked, and Ward nodded. After a moment, both simultaneously exclaimed, 'I'm driving!'

Ward narrowed his eyes and raised a fist to his hand. 'Play for it?' Skye nodded and copied Wards hand.

'Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!' Skye groaned as Ward wrapped his flat palm around Skye's fist.

'Ugh, fine, but I'm driving home.'

'Deal,' Ward grinned, and headed over to where the bike was parked. Chucking a helmet to Skye, he put on his own and straddled the seat. Skye followed him and wrapped her arm around his waist. After a moment, they were zooming off in the direction of school.

* * *

'People are staring. Is it me or is everyone staring?'

Fitz rolled his eyes. 'Simmons, no one is staring, we haven't even left the car yet,' came Fitz' reply, his amusement clouded by his thick Scottish accent.

Simmons frowned, 'I'm sorry, I'm just nervous.'

Fitz smiled. 'Don't be, we've started new schools dozens of times.'

Simmons rolled her eyes, 'Well, this is hardly the same situation. Somewhere in this school is our soul mates! I think I have a right to be nervous.'

Fitz frowned at the slightly panicked tone Simmons' voice had adopted and tried to calm her.

Looking at his wrist, he replied, 'Well, we won't be meeting them for another... 4 and a half hours, that leaves you about 4 hours till we should start getting nervous.'

Simmons laughed quietly at Fitz' strange logic, and nodded. 'You're right. 4 hours, I can do that.' Simmons took a deep, calming breath, and excited the car, followed by Fitz.

'Come on, I think administrations that way,' Fitz called, his accent causing a couple of bystanders to look.

'Okay, people are definitely staring now,' Simmons grumbled to herself before following Fitz into the main building, not even registering as the sound of a motorcycle roared into the parking lot.

* * *

Skye's leg bounced up and down as she nervously waited through her morning lessons. With a glance down at her wrist, it read,

**0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 1 hour, 12 minutes, 51 seconds.**

2 minutes less than when she had last checked it. Time seemed to have slowed as she barely paid attention to the Computer Science class around her. It wasn't till she heard her name being called that she realized that her teacher had been speaking to her.

'Skye! I asked you a question.'

Skye furrowed her brow, 'Umm, could you repeat it, please?'

Her teacher sighed. 'I don't know what's up with you today, Skye. Usually you pay attention.'

Before she could answer, someone called out, 'Oh, didn't you hear? Her timer goes off today!'

Skye winced as everyone in the class turned to stare at her. Her teacher, Mr Koenig raised his brow.

'Really?'

Skye dumbly nodded and her teacher grinned at her knowingly. 'Well, that's wonderful, congratulations! I'll let the behavior go for today, as long as it doesn't happen again.'

Skye nodded as Mr Koenig returned to teaching. Skye slid down in her seat and hid her head in her arms, trying to ignore everyone who would not so subtly shoot her glances every now and then.

Skye had almost dozed off, when she was abruptly shaken to attention by the piercing bell, signifying lunch. Skye packed her things into her bag and rushed out of the classroom, her teacher shouting, 'Good luck!' as she left.

Making her way to the cafeteria, skye searched around for Ward. Finally spotting him with two trays in his hand, she made his way over to him. As she joined him at the table he had snagged, she looked down at her wrist.

**0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 0 hour, 19 minutes, 36 seconds.**

'Oh god.'

Skye took a frantic breath and Ward threw her a smile.

'Nervous?'

'Yes! How can you not be?!'

Ward laughed. 'Not nervous? Skye, I'm freaking out. I also know that one of us has to keep it together.'

Skye smiled. 'Thanks, you've been great all month. You've put up with all this craziness.' SKye motioned to herself and Ward grinned before nudging a tray towards her.

'Eat, it will settle the nerves.'

Skye laughed. 'Yeah, if I don't puke it up first.'

* * *

Fitz ran his hand through his hair again, tugging and letting go of the strands, bouncing back into curls.

He was right. He had waited 4 hours and now he was freaking the fuck out. Simmons, beside him, wasn't doing too great either. She had taken to continuously rambling about some conversation she had with the Biology teacher, not even noticing that he wasn't listening. They both shuffled forward as the queue to the lunch line moved. Hopefully the food was better than the stuff (he refused to even call it food) at the old school. With a quick look at his wrist, he saw the time and began tugging his hands through his hair again.

**0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 0 hour, 6 minutes, 04 seconds.**

* * *

'So I heard about these two new kids that joined our year. Apparently they are best friends.'

Skye froze, a french fry halfway between her mouth and plate.

'You think they're-' Ward nodded.

'What do you know?' Skye asked, dropping the fry.

'Nothing much. They are smart, joined all the top classes-'

Ward was interrupted by Skyes snort. 'Well, that would be why we haven't met them yet. Maybe you'll finally have someone who can put up with tutoring your dumb ass.'

Ward rolled his eyes. 'They are from the UK. Scotland and England. I also heard that they are adorably cute.'

'Cute?' Skye looked at him in surprise.

'Yep. Apparently they have the whole honour student, blazer and tie thing working for them.'

Skye hummed thoughtfully. 'I could get into that.'

Ward laughed. 'Well, opposites attract.'

* * *

Simmons finally stopped talking as they reached the front of the queue, ordering a burger and chips (because they were chips, not french fries!). She paid and waited at the end of the counter for Fitz to join her. Once he did, she risked a glance down to her timer. Oh God.

**0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 0 hour, 1 minutes, 14 seconds.**

'Fitz!' Simmons hissed. 'The time!'

Fitz looked down at his wrist and paled slightly.

'Well, I suppose we shouldn't just stand here then... Lets find a table.'

Simmons looked incredulous but followed as Fitz spotted an empty table in the back corner of cafeteria.

'This is it.' Simmons whispered before stepping towards the many tables in the room.

* * *

'Thirty seconds,' Ward warned, before craning his neck around, even though it would do no good.

Skye took a breath before abruptly standing up.

'Skye?'

'I can't do this in here, not with all these people!' Skye wrenched Ward up from the table, leaving their half empty trays of food, and began tugging him through the room towards the exit.

* * *

'Fifteen seconds.'

'Bloody hell.'

* * *

'Skye, we wont make it outside in time. What's meant to happen will happen.'

Skye deflected. 'What happened to 'meeting across different sides of Grand Central Station?''

'I realized life isn't a movie.'

'We are literally meeting our soul mates, it's gunna be the most movie moment-like thing in our lives.'

'Shut up, you know what I mean.'

Skye just turned to him, and tugged at his arm to keep following.

* * *

**0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 0 hour, 0 minutes, 05 seconds.**

Simmons looked around the room, trying to see, before she felt something slam into her back. She almost pitched forward, had Fitz not caught her.

They both turned around as a voice rang out.

'Oh, god. I'm so sorry, we were-'

**BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP!**

Silence feel across the room as four timers went off at the same time. Simmons' eyes widened as she saw two people in front of her, a ruggedly handsome and (wow) muscley man, and a beautiful brunette woman, who's apology fell flat in the air.

' _Wow, way to go, FitzSimmons_ ,' the ridiculous thought was all she could think as she stared at her and Fitz's soul mates.

Fitz threw her a shocked look, and the two people chuckled, nerves seemingly forgotten and Simmons blushed in horror.

'Oh, God, I said that out loud. Bloody hell!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, its been a while. I have exams right now and loads of revision so don't expect a chapter soon. I had a half day yesterday, so I wrote an extra long on instead of revision, apparently I don't give a fuck any more. In case you haven't noticed, this fic will mostly be Skye-centric but there will be parts around other characters.
> 
> I hope you like where this is going, send a comment of what you think :) I reply to every one.


	3. Aghh, I am so sorry!

Hello! 

I am incredibly sorry, it has been so long since I have posted a chapter. I have received a lot of comments asking for a update but, unfortunately, I cannot post for at least another 3 weeks. I have had exams for the past month and a half, and I still have another 15 left (whoever designed this system sucks). My last exam is on the 19th of June, and so I will not be posting or writing till them. 

After that, though, I have two months of absolutely nothing to do except write, so I can guarantee I will do my best to make it up to you.

Again, I am so sorry. I hope everyone who is also going through exams at this time of year are doing well. Thank you for all your amazing comments and feedback, you are all what makes writing worth it.

-Imogen xxx


	4. Danny's Diner

Skye smiled to herself as she slid on her riding jacket, sitting astride Wards' motorcycle. The rest of her day had blurred together as she replayed the events of lunch over and over again in her mind. After they had realised everyone was staring at them in the lunch hall, Skye quickly led them to an empty art room so they could properly introduce themselves. FitzSimmons, they had introduced themselves as, a mix of their names due to them being inseparable. After that, they had split into pairs, to get to know each other.

Leo Fitz. The name sent her stomach into swirls. Her Soulmate. She had absorbed everything in, his adorably gruff accent, his messy hair, his incredible mind that had shone through in only a few short moments of conversation. It didn't seem real. She had told him a bit about herself, too. Mostly about her friendship with Ward, what she did at school, trivial things that her nervous mind had provided. Part of her felt reluctant to go into the details of her family, her abandonment. The part of her that she was sure would send Fitz packing, adamant that this pathetic person couldn't possibly be _his_ Soulmate.

Skye pushed those thoughts away as she fiddled with her helmet, waiting for Ward to be let out of class. She hadn't seen him since lunch, hadn't had the opportunity to question him about his own Soulmate. Jemma Simmons. She was sure they were perfect for each other, just from what she had gleamed from a brief introduction and the bashful smiles she kept sending Wards' way.

As if he could read her mind, Skye spotted Ward heading over in her direction, grin on his face as FitzSimmons followed.

'Sup, Shortie,' Ward shouted with a grin as he came over. Skye rolled her eyes at the nickname. She wasn't _that_ short.

'Look who I found!' Ward gestured to FitzSimmons who both gave her a smile and a wave.

'Hey, guys. Good first day?' Skye greeted before chucking Ward his helmet and riding jacket.

Fitz was just about to answer before Simmons blurted, 'You ride a motorcycle?!' Her eyes were wide in shock.

'What, this thing?' Skye patted the bike beneath her proudly. 'Yeah, its Wards'.'

'Yeah, we usually take my truck but the engine crapped out, can't get it fixed till next Saturday.' Ward added with a shrug.

'Oh, Fitz, you could-' Simmons began, before Fitz continued along the same thought, 'I can take a look at it, if you want. I'm really good with machines.'

Ward's eyes lit up before he clapped Fitz on the back. 'This is perfect! Skye, why don't you take Simmons to Danny's Diner and Fitz can take a look at the truck, we can meet up after.'

Not one to argue with Ward when he got excited, Skye shot Simmons a questioning look before nodding.

'Great, this gives Fitz and I the chance to get to know each other, have a little _chat_ now that he's you're Soulmate.'

Skye narrowed her eyes at Wards implication of him giving Fitz the shovel talk. 'If I didnt know any better, I'd say you planned this. Just don't scare him away, would ya,' Skye grumbled much to Wards amusement, whilst Fitz looked vaguely worried.

'Hey, don't worry, he's only joking around,' Skye tried to calm him, as Ward handed back his helmet and jacket, before getting Fitz to take him to his car.

Once they were gone, Skye turned her attention back to Simmons.

'Hey,' Skye started with a warm smile before getting off the bike and laying the helmet and jacket on the seat next to her own helmet. She shrugged off the jacket she was wearing and handed it to Simmons.

'Here, it'll fit better than Wards.'

Simmons stared at the jacket in front of her, dumbly. 'Oh, we're taking the bike?' Simmons asked, her eyes wide with nerves.

'Yeah, Fitz was your ride, wasn't he?' Simmons nodded silently. 'Well, I happen to be an excellent and _safe_ rider,' Skye added, putting emphasis on the _safe_ to help alleviate her fears.

'O-Okay,' Simmons agreed warily, taking the jacket from Skye's outstretched hand. She quickly pulled it on, turning to face Skye who was watching her with a grin.

'What? Is there something on my face?' Skye let out a laugh and shook her head.

'No, nothing. Its just... It suits you. It's very different from the blouse and cardigan you're wearing.'

Simmons smiled at Skye, 'Oh, thanks.. I think.'

With a grin, Skye tossed Simmons her helmet, before she quickly put on Wards jacket, slightly too large, and then his helmet. She helped Simmons on the back of the bike, looking positively tiny astride the beast of a motorcycle, but Skye withheld her laugh, instead making sure Simmons' helmet was on properly. Certain it was, Skye straddled the bike in front of Simmons, pulling Simmons' hands tight around her waist.

'Hold on, okay. You ready?' Skye asked, and felt Simmons nod behind her. 'Okay, here we go!'

Skye kick started the bike, the engine roaring to life beneath them. The noise was almost loud enough to cover the sound of Simmons squeaking, almost. Skye chuckled and feeling her shaking, Simmons playfully hit her.

Skye threw a thumbs up back to Simmons, before hitting the gas and then they were off.

Skye felt Simmons tighten her grip around her waist as they shot out of the car park and onto the road, the world flying past them by as they sped down the familiar roads that lead to her favourite road side diner that stood on the edge of town. She welcomed the euphoric sensation that only came when she was driving the bike, the wind rushing past her and making her feel like she was flying. She was careful to ignore the feeling deep in her bones telling her to go faster and to chase the adrenalin rush, not wanting to scare Simmons on her first time riding. Eventually, she felt Simmons relax behind her, her grip loosening slightly as she started to enjoy the drive.

The diner came into sight all too soon and Skye briefly thought about keeping on going, but dismissed the idea. Maybe another time, perhaps. She slowed as she turned into the car park, till she swung into a parking spot and stopped. She methodically shut down the bike and kicked down the bike rest, then when the unbuckle her helmet.

Shaking out her hair, she felt Simmons let go of her waist, and begin to take off her own helmet. Getting off the bike, she accepted the helmet from Simmons and grinned.

'So, not bad for you're first time, huh?' Simmons looked flushed and was smiling brightly at her.

'That.. That was amazing! I've never felt so free.' Simmons exclaimed happily. 'I thought I would be terrified, but after a while I just relaxed and... Wow.'

'I know, right! It's even better driving, feels like you're on air,' Skye gushed, reaching out her hand to help Simmons climb of the bike. Once she was, Skye tossed the helmets into the storage compartment under the seat and turned back to Simmons and nodded to the diner.

'Prepare to taste the best milkshakes in all of America- no, the world!' Grabbing Simmons' hand, she lead them into the diner and into a booth. They were quickly joined by a waitress.

'Hi, ladies. What can I get you?'

* * *

Fitz nervously tapped on the steering wheel as he drove, conscious of the large muscle-y guy seated next to him ( _Really, was the guy on steroids or something? Does he live in a gym?_ ) who had minutes ago joked about giving him the shovel talk, _because that wasn't scary at all._

Fitz quickly glanced over to Ward and almost jumped in his seat when he found Ward already watching him.

'Do you like music? I like music, lets listen to music,' Fitz rambled in a rush, reaching to turn the radio. Some top 40's station started playing the latest Katy Perry song, and Fitz winced. He reached forward again to change stations but was stopped as Ward reached forward and turned it off completely.

'Oh.. Do you not want to-'

'Look, can we talk?' Ward interrupted, before Fitz could start rambling again. Without waiting for a response, he continued.

'I feel like we got off to a bad start. I was joking before, I'm not going to do that whole macho-don't-hurt-her-or-else thing.'

'So... You're not going to shove me in a dumpster? Or lock me in the school overnight?' Fitz asked quietly.

'What?! Fitz, no! No. I would never do that to anyone, let alone you!' Ward gave him a worried look. 'Have people done that to you?'

Fitz shrugged. 'Yeah... At my old schools... Better me than Simmons, I guess. It's okay.'

'No, Fitz!' Ward all but yelled in anger, causing Fitz to flinch. Noticing the movement, Ward lowered his voice, 'No, Fitz, that is not okay. If anyone tries anything here, to you or Simmons, tell me and Skye. That is not okay.'

'Okay,' Fitz agreed quietly.

Ward sighed, 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. It's just... Skye had had a rough time growing up. It's not my place to give you details, but people were hurting her, in and out of school. At the time, I couldn't do anything, but I will never let it happen again. To any of you.

'I said I wouldn't give you the shovel talk, and I wont. I just want to ask you to take care of her. God, she would kill me if she knew I was doing this, but you need to take care of her, and be patient, and do things at her pace. Because she can have trouble letting people in sometimes. And I.. I love her, so just take care of her.'

Fitz nodded, and then smiled. 'I promise. It's good she has you. And Simmons now, too.'

'Hey, you've got me too. Me and Skye, we're family. That makes you family too.'

Fitz beamed at him. Ward suddenly cleared his throat.

'Right, well, now that our little heart to heart is over... Cars! You're good with cars,' Ward changed the subject awkwardly.

Fitz laughed before going along with it, 'Yeah, I'm good with all kinds of stuff really, I want to be an engineer.'

'Really? What kinds of stuff do you work with?'

* * *

'Oh, god, you're right! These pancakes are amazing,' Simmons moaned, quickly taking another bite.

Skye grinned and took a sip of her smoothie. 'Right! Me and Ward have been coming here since I was like 8. Nothing beats having breakfast for dinner when you've had a bad day.'

'Oh, you've had a bad day, have you?' Simmons teased, grinning at Skye who had all but collapsed from the amount of food she had consumed in a scarily small amount of time.

'Nah, my day's been pretty good. Its safe to say I'll remember it forever,' Skye quipped back, 'but I guess some habits are bad to break, or maybe I just like to treat myself.' Skye winked, causing Simmons to giggle.

'So...you and Ward have known each other for a long time, right? And you two have never... You know...'

Skye choked on the smoothie she had just taken a sip from, 'What?! Dated? No, thank god!' Skye started laughing, full bellied laughter that no one can make look attractive.

'What? Why is the thought of dating Ward so funny? Is there something wrong with him?' Simmons frowned.

'Oh, no, Simmons,' Skye took a gasp of air, trying to refrain from laughing further. 'Simmons, Ward is my brother!'

'What?!' Simmons' asked in shock, eyes wide. 'I thought you were best friends? He said you met in the third grade.'

Skye chuckled, 'Yeah, that's true... I'm adopted.'

'Oh!...Okay.'

Skye smiled sadly, 'Yeah, no one really knows what to say to that... I was left at the orphanage when I was a baby, and I got placed in a bunch of foster homes but none of them really stuck.' Skye shrugged with a sad smile.

'I met Ward on the first day of third grade. Some asshole was pushing me around because the orphanage couldn't afford nice clothes, or even clothes that fit if I'm being completely honest. Anyway, Ward defended me and we've been tight ever since. He was always there for me when a home got bad, his mom always let me sleep at theirs when I ran away. Last year, we got our timers, and everyone just assumed we would be mates, I guess even I believed it a little but we never did anything before. Imagine our surprise when we had the same time, only it didn't go off when we saw each other.'

Skye laughed at the thought. 'I didn't know if I was happy or disappointed to be honnest. On one side, my best friend wasn't my soulmate, but on the other side, I didn't have to worry about anything changing between us, you know, the expectations of being mates. Anyway, about six months ago, I was... I was placed in a really bad home. Some bad shit went down,' Skye's eyes flickered down to her wrists and took a shake-y breath.

Simmons' eyes followed Skye's', and she held in a gasp at the sight of the mottled mass of scar tissue around her timer. Instinctively, Simmons reached forward and grasped Skye's hands, turning them so her wrists were faced down, and ran her thumbs over her knuckles.

Skye looked up at Simmons and smiled weakly. 'Some bad shit went down,' Skye repeated,' and Ward got me out of there. Ward and Carrie, Wards mom, stayed with me in the hospital and Carrie said that I was family, I had been for a long time and that she couldn't let me go to those places any more... So she adopted me. My full name is Skye Daisy Ward... So, no. Me and Ward were never a thing.' She finished with a grin, hastily rubbing the unshed tears from her eyes.

'Good. I'm glad you found family.' Simmons said quietly, just noticing she was still holding Skye's hands.

'So, what about you, how'd you and Fitz meet?' they both let go with the change in topic.

Simmons smiled to herself at the memory, 'Well, Fitz and I -'

Simmons was interrupted by a bell as the door opened, followed by raucous laughter. Skye and Simmons both glanced up to track the noise and were greeted by the sight of Ward and Fitz jokingly shoving each other and laughing.

'Well, it looks like those two are getting along,' Skye said with smile. 'Hey! Guys!' Skye waved the two over.

'Skye, Simmons, hey!' Ward greeted, followed by a shy, 'Hey,' from Fitz. Ward slid into the booth next to Skye, gently shoving her over. 'Budge up, kiddo,' he joked, causing Skye to roll her eyes.

'You're like 4 months older then me, jerk,' Skye grumbled, but moved over anyway. Fitz joined them on Simmons' side, somewhat more politely.

'How's the truck?' Skye asked.

'Oh, man! Fitz is a miracle worker. Got the thing up and running in 15 minutes,' Ward enthused, much to Fitz' chagrin.

'It wasn't a big deal. Just a few loose plugs and a faulty wire.' Fitz mumbled.

'Hey, don't sell yourself short. I couldn't make heads or tails of it,' Ward insisted.

'Fitz is amazing, he can fix just about anything,' Simmons agreed, nudging him with her shoulder.

Embarrassed by all the attention, Fitz quickly changed the subject. 'So, what have you two been up to?' he asked Skye and Simmons.

'Simmons was just about to tell me how you two met,' Skye answered with an understanding smile.

'Oh, this I want to hear!' Ward exclaimed.

Fitz and Simmons shared a look, before Simmons started, 'Well, both our parents are scientists. I grew up in Sheffield, but when I was 10, my parents moved to London to work on a new project.'

'Right,' Fitz continued, 'And I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. My parents were asked to collaborate with Simmons' parents in London, so we moved there. I was being a right moody git about the move and when my parents took me to see the labs, I got into a bit of trouble.'

Simmons snorted. 'By trouble, he means he completely deconstructed highly expensive equipment when his parents weren't looking.'

Skye and Ward chuckled, causing Fitz to blush. 'Anyway, my parents practically locked me in the common room where I couldn't go any more damage-'

'Tell that to the poor coffee maker, Fitz,'

'-when I see this girl hanging upside down of the sofa reading a textbook on advanced biology. I was intrigued, so I struck up a conversation.'

'I, of course, hated him immediately, as 10 year olds tend to do,' Simmons added.

'But she soon came to realise that we were in similar situations and she wouldn't be able to do the experiments she wanted to without an engineer to work the equipment, so we struck up a partnership of sorts, conducting all sorts of mad science together.'

'And the rest is history,' Simmons finished with a smile.

'We caused our parents a few grey hairs with our monkey business, but we were inseparable. When my parents got offered a job in America a couple of years ago, they recommended the Simmons', and we all moved here, even got houses on the same street.'

'Our parents' company opened up a division here, so we all moved and here we are,' Simmons finished.

'Awww, you guys are adorable,' Skye exclaimed.

'I'm totally imagining them in massive lab coats and blowing stuff up,' Ward said in agreement.

'That was one time!' Simmons argued.

'Come on, Simmons, we did set quite a lot of stuff on fire,' Fitz conceded.

'Yeah, but it was controlled fire. Completely intentional.'

'Sure, Simmons,' Fitz teased.'

Simmons huffed, just as Ward's phone rang. 'It's mom,' he said to Skye as he checked the caller I.D. He answered, bringing the phone to his ear.

'Hey, Mom... Yeah, we're with them now... Danny's diner... No, I haven't eaten. You know Skye can always eat more.'

'Hey!'

'Cool, we'll be there in 10. Bye, love you.'

Ward hung up. 'That was my mom. She's cooking dinner and wants us home,' he explained apologetically. 'She wants to know all about you.'

'It's okay, our parents are probably thinking the same,' Simmons said with a smile.

'Here, give me you're numbers,' Ward handed his phone to Fitz. 'I'll send them to Skye too.' Fitz quickly typed in his number before passing it to Simmons. Once she was done, they all stood up, Skye leaving a few bills on the table.

'It was really great finally meeting you both,' Skye said, hugging Simmons, before turning to Fitz. 'Maybe next time, Ward wont steal you away and we can hang out. Just us?'

'I look forward to it,' Fitz agreed with a smile, before hugging her. 'I cant wait to get to know you.'

Skye smiled. 'Me too. Simmons has told me a lot about you.'

Fitz blushed, much to her amusement. 'Well, we'd better go.'

Nearby, Ward and Simmons were having their own goodbye, but they soon separated. Heading to the exit, Ward called out, 'Later, Fitz. Thanks again for the help with the truck,' before they all went their own ways. Fitz and Simmons to Fitz' car; Skye and Ward to where the bike was parked. Neither said anything as they put on their gear, except to check they were good to go, before they were driving home. The journey was quick, and they soon found themselves parked outside their house, spotting Carrie moving around in the kitchen through the window. She noticed them and gave them a wave as they got off the bike. Heading in, they both greeted Carrie with a hug.

'So? How'd it go? I want to know everything!'

* * *

Skye sank into her bed with a smile, before rolling over onto her stomach to reach her charging phone. Switching it on she added both the contacts Ward had sent her into her phone.

**Fitz (22:09) : Hey, its Skye, just giving you my number before I head to sleep. Night xx**

Skye sent the text, and hovered over Simmons' contact for a second, before hitting it. She heard it ring from in her hand. When the phone signalled that she'd picked up, she brought it to her ear.

'Hey, Simmons. It's Skye... I just wanted to give you my number... Yeah, I had a really good time today, too...I hope we can do it again, you know, without the guys too... I think we're gonna be really good friends...'

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I know its been forever, and I have no excuse other than I'm a real asshole, but I'm sorry. Anyway, I hope you like it :) Send me a review with what you think, its always appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys, i hope you like this idea, i know its been done before, but its gunna have a little twist though. if you want a little spoiler, the post where i came up with the original idea is on tumblr at  
> avengers-aos-fics . tumblr . com /post/111894686574/skimmons-fitzward-fic-idea  
> (Sorry wont let me post proper links)
> 
> Im planning on a 3 part installment, but hey that might change, cus originally i was going to write it all in one go, but its 4 in the morning and i wanna post this before writing more tomorrow.
> 
> send a review of what you think :)


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